I came back from home during the Spring Festival and brought Tangshan’s specialty sesame candy to my colleagues. Everyone said it was delicious and I was very happy. But when they asked me what it was made of and why it was called sesame candy, I was dumbfounded.
After more than 20 years, I really don’t know the answers to these questions, so in order to prove that I am from Tangshan, I checked some information and found out that there is a little story about the origin of sesame candy!
Shaped like a round flower, as thin as a cicada's wing, light yellow and transparent, crispy and soft, and sweet and delicious, Tangshan sesame candy has a long history and is famous far and wide.
Without further ado, let me tell you this little story: In the fourth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Mr. Zhang Qishuzhuang, Fengrun County, opened a Guangsheng shop, which exclusively dealt in honey sesame candy.
Mr. Zhang was originally from Wangxihetou Village, Zhongli Township, Zhongshen County, Hebei Province. Due to frequent floods, droughts, and insect disasters, life was extremely difficult. In order to make a living, Mr. Zhang fled to Fengrun, East Hebei Province with his wife, children, and children and settled in Qishuzhuang.
He has the skill of making pastries inherited from his ancestors, so he makes some pastries every year, carries some groceries, and carries a load to the villages to sell them.
After working like this for several years, I saved a little money and opened a small pastry shop, making pastries for sale.
The pastries he makes mainly include ordinary pork chops and honey pork chops.
These two types of pork chops have their own merits and textures. The former is hard and crispy, while the latter has soft skin.
Mr. Zhang made honey sesame candy based on the customer's taste, after many studies and repeated modifications, based on two kinds of grilled forks, and exclusively produced and distributed it under the name of "Guangshenghao".
After the Republic of China, an enlightened gentleman named Xu from Fengrun introduced Qishuzhuang honey sesame candy to Tangshan and opened Xinxin Company on Xinli Street. It specialized in producing and selling sesame candy in the form of a former factory and a back store, and it became a famous brand delicacy in Tangshan.
Sesame candy uses high-quality materials and is exquisitely produced. The main raw materials include fine white flour, finely ground sesame oil, soft white sugar, high-quality honey, maltose, etc. The auxiliary ingredients include osmanthus, lemon, banana, etc.
During production, it goes through seven processes including dough kneading, kneading, rolling, rolling, chopping, twisting, and frying.
The food is crispy and sweet, with endless aftertaste.